(SFX: ELEVATOR DINGS/DOORS SLIDE OPEN) TONY: It’s three o’clock in the morning, you hear a strange noise in your house. What do you do? KATE: I slide a pistol from under my pillow and I go after the guy. TONY: I’m talking about real people, Kate. Why do they always feel the need to go and look? KATE: It’s called human nature, Tony. TONY: Ah, let me guess. You’re that person in a horror movie that decides since all your friends are dead, you really need to go check out the demonic breathing noise down in the basement. KATE: Well, that beats being the girl who twists her ankle and gets everybody else killed. TONY: You sleep with a gun under your pillow every night? KATE: That depends. TONY: On what? KATE: On who I’m sleeping with. (BEAT) (TO GIBBS) Um, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. Tony just asked me what I would do if a man came into my bedroom and I said it depends. I mean, it doesn’t depend on the man. Tony, could you help me out here, please? TONY: She sleeps with a gun, boss. GIBBS: Is that true?

KATE: Sort of. Sometimes. Yes. GIBBS: Good girl! What do we know about last night? KATE: Not much. The fugitive is a former SEAL named Jack Curtin. He somehow managed to escape from Leavenworth and nobody seems to know how. TONY: We do know he broke into a house at zero three forty and scared the hell out of two civilians before stealing the guy’s clothes. GIBBS: Get me everything on him… birth to last night. TONY: I thought Leavenworth was Army C-I-D jurisdiction? GIBBS: C-I-D’s gonna search where he’s been. We’re gonna find out where he’s going. Have Leavenworth pack up Curtin’s cell, overnight it to Abby. I want everything but the paint on the walls. KATE: You got it. TONY: Do we know what this guy was in for? GIBBS: Same thing I’m gonna be if you don’t get your ass moving. TONY: Right. (WHISPERS TO KATE) Murder? KATE: And you didn’t even use a lifeline.

CUT TO:

EXT. HOUSE – DAY

KATE: What makes you so sure he’s not running to Canada or Mexico? (SFX: CAR DOOR CLOSES) GIBBS: He spent a year in pretrial confinement. If he wanted to run, he wouldn’t have waited ‘til he was sent to Leavenworth.

KATE: Well, if he wanted to kidnap his kid, he could have done that back then, too. GIBBS: Well, yeah. There is that. KATE: So why are we here? GIBBS: I want you to keep an eye on his son ‘til I can arrange for a protection detail. KATE: Is that a nice way of saying babysit? GIBBS: Hey, you’re catching on. (V.O.) Has your grandson…

CUT TO:

INT. DINING ROOM – DAY

GIBBS: … received any calls or letters from his father recently? MR. DONALDSON: No. If he did, I wouldn’t let him hear or read them. KATE: Has he had any contact with his father since you were awarded custody? MR. DONALDSON: We were granted custody because his father murdered two people. One of them was his mother… our daughter. So why would we give him visitation? MS. DONALDSON: You think Jack might try to contact Kevin. GIBBS: It’s a possibility. MS. DONALDSON: Oh, my god. He might even… KEVIN: I’m going to go out front. MS. DONALDSON: I’ll take you out in a few minutes, Kevin. KEVIN: I can go by myself. MR. DONALDSON: We’re almost done. KEVIN: I want to go now! MR. DONALDSON: With that attitude you’re not going anywhere. GIBBS: Nice board. Mind if I check it out? KEVIN: Yeah, I do.

MS. DONALDSON: He’s angry. GIBBS: Yeah, I don’t blame him. MR. DONALDSON: All he does is ride that skateboard or sit by himself and draw. GIBBS: His father is probably running for a border. But I’m going to leave Agent Todd here for a while. If the phone rings, you let her answer it.

CUT TO:

INT. NCIS LAB – DAY

GIBBS: Are you on a roll? ABBY: Aren’t I always? GIBBS: I guess you don’t need this then, huh? ABBY: Ooh. You need it. I like it. GIBBS: Kate get you the stuff from Curtin’s cell? ABBY: It’s on its way. Kate rules. GIBBS: I thought Abby ruled. ABBY: Good women don’t mind sharing a throne, Gibbs. GIBBS: How about just sharing what you found, Abs. ABBY: I will… when I find it. I’m still downloading the SAINT data from Leavenworth. GIBBS: Hmm. That’s one acronym I don’t know. ABBY: It’s like Lojack for inmates. It should be able to tell us when and where our chicken flew the coup. GIBBS: I am much more interested in how and with whose help. ABBY: Got it. GIBBS: Good.

CUT TO:

INT. JAG CONFERENCE ROOM – DAY

FAITH: I haven’t had anything to do with Petty Officer Curtin since I prosecuted the case. TONY: Where did he run after the murders? FAITH: He didn’t. He was the one who called the police. TONY: He called the police on himself? FAITH: Insisted he was innocent. Claimed he came home and found them dead. TONY: Victim of circumstance. FAITH: He said his wife might have been involved with drug dealers. It all fell apart pretty fast. TONY: Did he end up confessing? FAITH: No. But he had both victim’s blood all over him and his fingerprints were on the murder weapon. It was pretty obvious what happened. He came home, found his wife upstairs with the cable guy and lost it. TONY: I guess he picked the wrong housewife to give a free upgrade, huh? FAITH: Is that your idea of humor, Special Agent DiNozzo? TONY: Is that your idea of a sharp pencil? You know which one I’m talking about. You’re not going to poke anyone’s eye out with that one. FAITH: Are we finished here? TONY: Was the cable guy doing the missus? FAITH: Actually, he really was just fixing the cable. Curtin was just paranoid and freaked. TONY: Why wasn’t he on death row? FAITH: He was granted leniency due to post traumatic stress.

TONY: From the cable going out? (BEAT) Slightly amusing? Come on, counselor. You’ve got to give me something to work with here. FAITH: I have clients to see, Agent DiNozzo. TONY: Why did Curtain freak? FAITH: Everyone thinks because the Taliban fell fast, it was a cakewalk. But for the guys over there, it was anything but. TONY: Anybody testify on his behalf? Someone he would go to for help? FAITH: Curtain HALO’d into Afghanistan on September twelfth with nothing but an MP five, a K bar knife and a radio. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who needs help. TONY: I appreciate your help, Commander Coleman. It’s been a lot of laughs. (TONY WALKS TO THE DOOR) TONY: (LAUGHS) Now that’s funny!

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY

TONY: Petty Officer First Class Jack Curtain… he’s hardcore, boss. GIBBS: Yeah? What’s your definition of hardcore? TONY: Grew up in foster homes. Enlisted at seventeen. Went from boot camp to BUDS, which is unusual. Went through hell in Afghanistan, which apparently isn’t. His entire SEAL team showed up at his trial as character witnesses. GIBBS: Where’s his team now? TONY: Mostly deployed.

GIBBS: Tony, I’m going to need you to go… TONY: … track him down and see if Curtin contacted them? Or I could let you finish your question. GIBBS: You have the name of the team commander? TONY: Current or past? GIBBS: Both. TONY: Current’s location is classified. SatCom can be arranged as soon as he becomes available. When that will be is… GIBBS: Classified. TONY: Unknown. Past is stationed at Little Creek. Commander William Foley. GIBBS: Where exactly at Little Creek? TONY: Uh… there, exactly. It’s a brave new world, boss.

CUT TO:

EXT. AMPHIBIOUS BASE – DAY

FOLEY: Well if he’s looking for help from an old teammate, he’ll have to go to Iraq to get it. GIBBS: You’re here. FOLEY: Hazards of promotion. GIBBS: Did you have any contact with Curtin since his conviction? FOLEY: Not. Not that I’d avoid it. Jack was a good man. GIBBS: He’s convicted of killing two people. FOLEY: Agent Gibbs, you know what it’s like to spend every free moment dreaming about being home again, hugging your wife, hearing your kids laugh, only to come home and learn it’s all gone? GIBBS: It doesn’t justify murder.

FOLEY: I didn’t say it did. Anything else? GIBBS: Not for the moment. FOLEY: That’s very Jack Webb. GIBBS: Thanks.

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY

ABBY: Curtin, definitely did his homework. GIBBS: You got my attention, Abs. How’d he get out? ABBY: According to the computer, he didn’t. GIBBS: I hate riddles. ABBY: SAINT tracks both inmates and guards through a single source data system with compares information on a digital smartcard that every inmate is required to carry with some aspect of their physiology. GIBBS: How about an explanation that doesn’t require a digital smartcard? ABBY: Okay. You got a fingerprint. You got a card. You swipe, you press, match-match. The computer knows who you are and where you are. The readers are in every cell and every entryway locations within the prison. So there’s no need for bed checks or roll calls. You save time. You save money. Everybody wins. GIBBS: Until an inmate hacks the system. ABBY: Until an inmate hacks the system. GIBBS: It was maximum security. They don’t get pencils, much less a laptop. ABBY: Yes, but they do give them toothpaste. At first I thought he molded a duplicate of his finger, but… GIBBS: The guard’s finger.

ABBY: That’s what I love about you, Gibbs. Always one finger ahead. GIBBS: Find out which guard. ABBY: I already have. SAINT has the guard logged at the prison laundry for the last twenty two hours. Which is odd for several reasons, but especially because it was his day off. GIBBS: Curtin used the fake finger to get to the laundry. ABBY: Then he hid in a hamper and went out with the whites. GIBBS: How’d he get the guard’s finger to make the mold? ABBY: Easy. Kicked sand in his face. Watch this. (MUSIC OVER ACTION/VIDEO PLAYS) ABBY: Curtin did a few fingertip pull-ups. And then challenged the guard to do the same. GIBBS: I’m guessing that’s not dirt he found above the door. ABBY: And I’m guessing that you’re looking in the wrong direction just like the guard. Watch. (MUSIC OVER ACTION/VIDEO PLAYS) (SFX: COMPUTER BEEP TONES) GIBBS: So a finger he made of this fooled the computer. ABBY: The biometric readers note lines and ridges in three dimensions. They don’t check for a pulse. GIBBS: A finger’s useless without the smartcard that goes with it.

ABBY: The guard lost his card two weeks after Curtin arrived. In the incident report he claimed that his dog ate it. GIBBS: That didn’t work for me in the sixth grade. ABBY: You’re a late bloomer, Gibbs. It didn’t work for me in the second. GIBBS: They don’t have a way to disable lost cards? ABBY: They do, but they didn’t. GIBBS: Guess they figured, without the finger… ABBY: Exactly. GIBBS: Well, they fingered wrong.

KATE: You’ve got to get back to bed, buddy. It’s late. KEVIN: I’m hungry. KATE: Have a piece of fruit. KEVIN: I hate fruit.

KATE: Bananas. They’re the closest thing to not being a fruit than a fruit can be. I’m not sure what that means either. Just go to bed. KEVIN: What about the floor? If my grandma sees this, she… KATE: Don’t worry about the floor. I got it, okay? It’s not a big deal, all right? I’ve got the floor. You just need to go back to bed and take-- (JACK ENTERS THE KITCHEN) JACK: One word and the milk won’t be the only thing spilled on the floor.

(MUSIC OUT)

FADE IN:

INT. LIVING ROOM – NIGHT

KATE: The whole neighborhood is under surveillance. You’ll never get away with him. JACK: I didn’t come here to take him away. I came to say goodbye. I never got a chance to say goodbye. KATE: You could’ve just called. Written a letter. JACK: You don’t have kids, do you? He needs to know that I love him, and that this is the best place for him now. KATE: So you can run away without feeling guilty? JACK: I shouldn’t have to run at all. Open your mouth. Open wide. Okay. There you go. It’s not too tight. (JACK TIES UP KATE)

CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM – DAY

KEVIN: Is it scary in jail? JACK: Sometimes. KEVIN: Cause there’s guys bigger than you? JACK: Well, there’s a lot of different reasons. Do you think about your mom a lot? KEVIN: Yeah. JACK: So do I.

(SFX: CAR BRAKES TO A STOP) JACK: (SHOUTS) Stop! Get out of the car now! Get out of the car! DRIVER: Okay. Okay. (MUSIC OVER ACTION) (SFX: TIRES SCREECH) MCGEE: Out of the way! (SFX: GUNFIRE) (SFX: TIRES SCREECH) (MUSIC OVER DRIVING ACTION) (SFX: GUNFIRE)

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET – DAY

GIBBS: Checkpoints up? (SFX: CAR DOORS OPEN/ CLOSE)

MCGEE: On all the major roads. APB went out on the car that he got away in at zero four hundred. One of the deputies just found an old pick up with Missouri plates. Reported stolen yesterday morning. TONY: Sounds like our guy’s. MCGEE: Impound it? Bring it to the garage? GIBBS: No, there’s no time. Bag everything. Get it to Abby. MCGEE: Will do, Sir. GIBBS: Bag the windshield fragments, too. Get them to Abby. Then take photos. Both scenes. TONY: What are you doing down here? MCGEE: The main office needed a temporary refill. I was low on the pole. TONY: Yeah, we got a lot of people out sick. Some kind of gastrointestinal bug going around. You didn’t use our toilet, did you?

CUT TO:

INT. LIVING ROOM – DAY

KATE: Curtin snuck in last night. I didn’t hear him. He came to say goodbye to his boy. GIBBS: And while he was saying goodbye? KATE: I was uh… tied up in the living room. He has my weapon. But I hit him with the shotgun. GIBBS: How bad? KATE: Don’t know. GIBBS: Contact the ER’s in the area. Tell them to be on the lookout for a G-S-V and get them Curtin’s photo. KATE: Okay. GIBBS: Where’s the boy? KATE: In his room.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET – DAY

TONY: Do you think he swam? MCGEE: Who? TONY: Leavenworth’s in Kansas. The truck’s from Missouri. Little thing called the Mississippi between the two. MCGEE: Well, actually there’s a little thing called two hundred miles between Leavenworth and the Mississippi. Try the Missouri. TONY: Ah, same thing. Potato. Potato. All we know is this guy swam across a big ass river. MCGEE: You enjoy this, don’t you? TONY: Having fun at your expense? MCGEE: Yeah. TONY: Really a lot.

CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM – DAY

(KNOCK ON DOOR) KEVIN: Are you going to arrest me? GIBBS: For helping your dad? Nah. We don’t arrest boys for that. Thought you might be hungry. You know, when I was a kid we used to take roller skates apart and nail them onto boards. Pretty unbelievable, huh? Yeah, I’d be speechless too. I’m gonna guess that’s your dad. Is he going to shoot someone, Kevin? KEVIN: I don’t want to talk about it. GIBBS: I understand that. The hardest thing for guys like us is talking.

KEVIN: What do you mean, “guys like us?” GIBBS: I don’t know. You just seem a little bottled up… like me. KEVIN: Everyone thinks I should just spew, you know? GIBBS: Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I know. KEVIN: What are you bottled up about? GIBBS: I let a guy get away from me. Bad guy. He shot one of my people. He shot me. KEVIN: Where? GIBBS: It bothers me that I can’t find him. But I’m gonna find him. KEVIN: I’m not going to help you catch my dad. GIBBS: That’s okay. (KEVIN CRIES) GIBBS: It’s okay.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREET – DAY

TONY: Ladies and Gentlemen, I want a hard target search of every residence, gas station, farm house, hen house, dog house and outhouse in the area, you got that? Good! Now turn off those cameras and get out of our way! MCGEE: The accent’s still not right. TONY: Damn. MCGEE: It’s too Arkansas. Tommy Lee’s more Texas. You gotta think more untamed – in-your-face.

CUT TO:

INT. NCIS OUTER LAB – DAY

GIBBS: Where’s the stuff from Curtin’s car?

ABBY: It’s there, but you’re gonna want to see this first. I haven’t done a precipitin yet, but unless someone else was shot recently inside the car that Curtin carjacked, I think Kate just unsealed our SEAL. First shot, too. GIBBS: How can you tell? ABBY: See the crenellated marks? That’s caused from blood spray hitting a perpendicular surface at a pretty good clip. GIBBS: How do you know it was first shot? ABBY: The first shot hit home and caused the blood to splatter inside the car. The second… GIBBS: …blasted the stained glass onto the street. ABBY: Stained glass. It’s very spiritual, Gibbs. How severe a wound? ABBY: Hmm, from a close range blast with a double ought buck, and considering his position behind the wheel and the fact that he hasn’t turned up dead yet, I’d say that he probably just got grazed or he’s down to one arm. What are you looking for? GIBBS: This. ABBY: It’s from the glove compartment. GIBBS: Yeah. I’ve never known anyone who kept gloves in there. ABBY: Well, now you do. Do you want to know why? GIBBS: Abby. ABBY: I don’t like the sun. GIBBS: Abby. ABBY: So when I have to go put gas in my gar, I have these vintage elbow length gloves.. GIBBS: Black? ABBY: Yes. They match my black lace vintage parasol. GIBBS: The gas station.

ABBY: Well, yeah. You can’t be too careful, Gibbs, and you can’t have an indoor gas station because of all the fumes. GIBBS: Abby? ABBY: Yeah? GIBBS: Can we move on? ABBY: Sure. That’s a map of Washington, D.C. GIBBS: Mmm. A new one. ABBY: So? GIBBS: This one isn’t. My guess is he didn’t know he had a D.C. map in the glove compartment, so he bought a new one. ABBY: Hmm.

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY

GIBBS: Kevin obviously thinks is dad is out to shoot somebody. He told me his dad is going to find someone then he’s going to give himself up. TONY: Does he know who it is? GIBBS: No. He seems to know something about the plan after he finds him. KATE: If Curtin is like most roommates, he blames everyone but himself for his conviction. GIBBS: There is a new D.C. road map in the car he abandoned. TONY: Both of the JAG lawyers involved in his trial have D.C. addresses. GIBBS: What about the judge? TONY: Retired. Lives in El Paso.

GIBBS: Curtin also did right by all three of them. Coleman didn’t even contest the post-traumatic stress diagnosis, plus the judge was lenient in sentencing. TONY: So who’s he after? KATE: Curtin told me he shouldn’t have to run at all. GIBBS: He’s always insisted he was innocent. TONY: So you’re saying we should be looking for a one-armed man? KATE: Very funny. GIBBS: Maybe we should. TONY: Are you kidding, boss? GIBBS: The repairman really was fixing the cable, the lawyers were professional, the judge was fair. Maybe the one person that Curtin still has a beef with is the one who killed his wife. He’s not running. He’s chasing.

(MUSIC OUT)

FADE IN:

INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY

KATE: Nothing from area hospitals. Still checking smaller clinics as well as doctor’s offices. GIBBS: He could’ve seen a vet. KATE: Tony’s marking that territory. TONY: (LAUGHS) Cute. KATE: I thought so. GIBBS: I didn’t. TONY: Nothing from the vets, boss. GIBBS: A-P-B on the car? KATE: Nothing. GIBBS: I’m tired of hearing that word.

KATE: We think Curtin’s innocent, right? TONY: Maybe. KATE: Assume he’s innocent for the sake of argument. TONY: Why? GIBBS: Because I said to. TONY: Innocent. Sure. Why not? Go on. KATE: If Curtin’s innocent and he’s going after the guy that murdered his wife and a cable repairman…. TONY: I don’t think he cares about cable repairmen. KATE: If Curtin knows the murderer, why didn’t he say so when he was arrested? TONY: He did. He said… he thought it might have been drug dealers. KATE: Generic. Not specific. He’s going out to get someone specific now. GIBBS: He didn’t know. He found out who slit their throats while he was in prison. What about the stuff that was in his cell? KATE: It’ll be here in twenty minutes. But I have a list of everything that’s coming. Curtin’s cell had seven large file boxes containing appeals, police reports, detective notes, crime scene photos, phone records and an official trial record. GIBBS: He found something in one of these boxes that told him who killed his wife. TONY: If he’s innocent. GIBBS: We’re going to reinvestigate this case from top to bottom. Get both of those JAG lawyers in here. Kate, take prosecution. Tony, defense. KATE: On it. TONY: On it!

GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Central files. I need all our records on a murder case three years ago. KATE: (INTO PHONE) Hi. GIBBS: (INTO PHONE) Petty Officer First Class Jack D. Curtin. I want to know who here investigated the case. No. No, you will not call me back. I’ll hold. (TO MCGEE) What the hell are you doing? MCGEE: Um… GIBBS: Can you form a sentence, Agent McGee? MCGEE: The NCIS Investigator was Special Agent Clay Williamson, Sir. GIBBS: That’s a good sentence. MCGEE: He’s retired and living on a boat. Gets his mail every three months in Tahiti. GIBBS: What kind of boat? MCGEE: Uh… I don’t know, Sir. But I was able to download his investigation from Central Files. GIBBS: I want the Evidence Custody document so we can get… MCGEE: Already on it, Sir. I can call Norfolk and have the evidence transferred here. GIBBS: How fast? MCGEE: Joint Forces Command has a helo shuttle to the Pentagon. GIBBS: Do it. MCGEE: Okay. Yes, Sir. GIBBS: You don’t have to call me Sir. MCGEE: No, Sir. GIBBS: Lawyers! KATE: Commander Coleman is unhappily on her way. TONY: The defense lawyer told me to shove it. The message was actually delivered by his assistant, but he assured me it was verbatim. GIBBS: I want him here, DiNozzo.

TONY: Boss, he’s no longer at JAG. He’s a four hundred dollar an hour Beltway lawyer with really nice shoes. GIBBS: DiNozzo, I don’t care. I don’t care if he’s wearing Armani or Prada, or Ermin-something Zegna. Get his ass here! TONY: Ermenegildo Zegna, boss. Just so you know. MCGEE: Evidence is on its way…. boss.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

CLARE: (V.O.) I’m going to own your house, Agent DiNozzo. TONY: I rent. CLARE: You know what the federal minimums are for aggravated assault under color of authority, kidnapping, false imprisonment? TONY: Well, you know, I don’t. But I’m sure my boss, Special Agent Jethro Gibbs does. GIBBS: Very subtle, DiNozzo. TONY: Shooting him just seemed so ham fisted. GIBBS: Whatever it takes. Uncuff him so he can say hello to an old friend. FAITH: I prefer him in cuffs. CLARE: Wish I’d known that when we were at JAG.

CUT TO:

INT. EVIDENCE GARAGE – DAY

GIBBS: I want every photograph, witness statement, lab report, autopsy report, and anything else you can find in these boxes reexamined. Petty Officer Curtin may be innocent now, but if we don’t find who he’s after, he will not be for long. FAITH: Innocent? GIBBS: I believe Curtin told his son that he escaped from jail to get the person who murdered his mother. FAITH: And what was he going to tell his son? I murdered your mother? CLARE: You had no eyewitnesses. No confession. FAITH: I had enough evidence to get a conviction. GIBBS: Guilty or innocent, you are both here to help us find who he is after before another murder is committed. FAITH: Okay. If Curtin can prove he’s innocent, why didn’t he just tell the authorities? CLARE: Would you listen? FAITH: No. But if I was innocent, I’d keep telling people until someone did. I wouldn’t escape from prison and go after the killer myself. CLARE: That’s why women aren’t allowed in the SEALs. FAITH: Because we think with the head on our shoulders? ABBY: (LAUGHS) They remind you of anybody? TONY AND KATE: (IN UNISON) No. ABBY: Me neither. MCGEE: Evidence from Norfolk. Top box is autopsy. The rest is evidence collected at the scene. GIBBS: Top box goes on the table for Ducky. Everything else goes to the lab. You take Abby with you. MCGEE: I’m on her. (BEAT) It. I’m on it, Sir. Sorry.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

TONY: No drugs found in either victim’s blood. Special Agent Williamson, who investigated, found he’s sailing a thirteen meter ketch, boss.

GIBBS: He must be married. You can’t single hand a ketch. KATE: I take it you’re not building a ketch in your basement. GIBBS: Of course not. The basement’s too small. CLARE: You know, if I was getting five hundred an hour, I wouldn’t care how long this little side bar went on, but since I’m pro bono, can we…? TONY: Special Agent Williamson had a drug tox screen done on the wife’s hair. Nothing. GIBBS: Okay, Curtin’s drug dealer idea didn’t pan out. What did? CLARE: Curtin was convinced his wife was having an affair. FAITH: Petty Officer Curtin was paranoid. First drug dealers did it. When that didn’t pan out, it was a lover. GIBBS: Was he paranoid? FAITH: Yes! CLARE: (OVERLAP) No! GIBBS: Proof? FAITH: Pass this please. The court appointed psychiatrist found Curtin experienced severe insomnia in Afghanistan. GIBBS: Who didn’t? FAITH: Sleep deprivation can cause paranoia. TONY: So can a wife who’s cutting another guy’s jib. FAITH: Curtin’s the type of guy who intimidates other SEALs. Who’s going to make a move on his wife? KATE: Maybe she was the one making the moves. GIBBS: Where are her phone records? FAITH: There’s nothing in them to indicate she had a lover.

CLARE: Unfortunately she’s right. I checked out every number that she called while he was overseas. TONY: Did you check her cell phone calls? FAITH: She didn’t have a cell phone. KATE: That’s odd. GIBBS: Everyone has a cell phone. I have a cell phone. CLARE: Well, she didn’t. TONY: Evidently her husband thought she did. He subpoenaed every cell phone company in Virginia. Verizon, Sprint, A T and T Wireless and there’s more. These are subpoenas for prepaid cell phone providers. Floor Four Wireless, Bingham Wireless, Sharkphone dot com, Zo-Phone dot com, No-Phone dot com. Houston, the cell phone has landed. Prepaid cell phone records for one Margaret Curtin from Upfront Phone dot com. KATE: And the date on the subpoena is four weeks ago. GIBBS: Court’s adjourned. Thanks for your cooperation, counselors. Special Agent Todd will escort you out. Tony, get on those numbers. FAITH: You’ll let me know how this turns out? KATE: Of course. CLARE: Afraid you put an innocent man in Leavenworth, Faith? FAITH: Yes. But innocent or not, I still kicked your ass.

DUCKY: I think I’ve got something useful from his accent. GIBBS: What? DUCKY: The terrorist. He had a definite Euro accent, but he occasionally used British syntax. I think his higher education was in the British Isles. Yeah, well that’s all I have for the moment on that bastard. But on the one who did these murders, I’ve just found something really useful. The M.E. misread the cause of death. You’re thinking it was so obvious. A massive loss of blood from a kitchen knife when he sliced them from ear to ear. The attack was so vicious that both victims were nearly decapitated. GIBBS: That didn’t cause their death? DUCKY: No. The M.E. missed that they both also… had fractures of the cervical spine. GIBBS: Their necks were broken.

DUCKY: Precisely. Yes. The killer incapacitated each victim with a violent, and most likely fatal, twist of the head. GIBBS: Duck, I get the idea. DUCKY: Anyway, he slit their throats probably to cover up the fact that he knew how to kill with his hands. GIBBS: Like a Navy SEAL. DUCKY: Yes. GIBBS: (V.O.) Which brings us back to Petty Officer Curtin.

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM – DAY

TONY: I’ve said all along, he’s guilty. GIBBS: Nothing in her cell phone records? TONY: If she got that cell phone to call her boyfriend, then he was working at the video store, the grocery store, the hairdresser, the dry cleaner or directory assistance. KATE: She only got the phone when her husband shipped out. GIBBS: What’s the most frequently dialed number? KATE: Commander Foley’s house. GIBBS: Curtin’s C.O.? TONY: Only he was in Afghanistan with Curtin. Mrs. Foley confirmed Margaret Curtin called frequently, but it wasn’t unusual. All the wives did it. GIBBS: The C.O.’s wife is a den mother when the unit’s deployed. TONY: It’s a dead end, Boss.

GIBBS: That cell phone log is the only record Curtin had that no one else did, and he got that just before he escaped. Whoever he is chasing is at one of those numbers. We just have to find out which one.

(MUSIC UP AND OUT)

FADE IN:

EXT. TENNIS COURTS – DAY

KATE: If she was cheating on her husband, do you really think she’d tell the Commander’s wife? TONY: Not if she was anything like the den mother I had. Talk about your bete noires. KATE: You were a Boy Scout? TONY: Cub. KATE: Ha! What’d they kick you out for? TONY: Trying to score Brownie points. (SFX: GATE OPENS) TONY: Ooh, not the brunette in the little red number. (SFX: TENNIS B.G.) KATE: Yep. TONY: She is absolutely nothing like my den mother. MRS. FOLEY: (V.O.) You really should talk to my husband.

(PASSAGE OF TIME)

MRS. FOLEY: I barely knew Petty Officer Curtin. KATE: We’re actually more interested in what you know about his wife Margaret, Mrs. Foley.

TONY: According to her cell phone records, you two spoke regularly after your husband’s deployment. MRS. FOLEY: I kept in touch with all the wives. It was a stressful time. KATE: Did Mrs. Curtin ever talk about a man that she might have become close to, maybe even started seeing? MRS. FOLEY: No, but Margie wouldn’t confide in me about something like that. TONY: What did you talk about? MRS. FOLEY: Mostly about whether we’d heard any news or talked to anyone. We were all desperate for information. KATE: Did Mrs. Curtin seem any more desperate than the rest of you? TONY: Or less? MRS. FOLEY: I really don’t know. I was a wreck myself. My husband got called to Washington immediately after the second plane hit the Trade Center. He said his team was being deployed. He couldn’t say where or for how long. KATE: They don’t waste their time, do they? MRS. FOLEY: For the first six weeks we didn’t hear so much as a word. After that we got occasional phone calls – emails. KATE: How long were they in Afghanistan? MRS. FOLEY: The lucky ones… almost six months. One came back after the first week. Bill made it through four and a half months before he got wounded. KATE: Wait, your husband made it back almost a month before Petty Officer Curtin? MRS. FOLEY: That’s right.

ABBY: (SPELLS) E…L…I…S…A! MCGEE: Whoa! ABBY: Sorry. MCGEE: What do you got? ABBY: ELISA. See, I figure, how can I find evidence of an affair using only physical evidence collected at a crime scene? Then I thought… ELISA. It’s a blood test for herpes simplex two. MCGEE: Curtin’s wife had herpes?

ABBY: And her husband didn’t. His medical records were admitted. Petty Officer Curtin had an extensive physical done before he went overseas. And I mean extensive. No herpes. MCGEE: Well, his wife could have gotten it before they got married. ABBY: Oh, the old “I must have gotten it before we met” defense? MCGEE: Well, it could happen. ABBY: Really? MCGEE: Well, not to me. You know, it didn’t… it hasn’t happened. It won’t happen. ABBY: It didn’t happen to her either. Her medical records were admitted during trial. Her last physical was six months before she was murdered when her husband was in Afghanistan. No herpes. MCGEE: All we need to do now is check Commander Foley’s records. ABBY: Is there anything you can’t find? MCGEE: A way to shut up DiNozzo.

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHT

(FOLEY SIGNS THE PAPER) GIBBS: Well. You agree to waive your Article Thirty One rights. FOLEY: I’ve got nothing to hide. I already told you I haven’t heard from him. I don’t expect to. GIBBS: Why not? You testified on his behalf at the trial. You seemed to be sympathetic to his situation.

FOLEY: Situation? GIBBS: Coming home and finding his wife in the bedroom with another guy. FOLEY: Well wouldn’t that bother you? GIBBS: Oh, yeah. It bothered me a hell of a lot, only I chose divorce over murder.

GIBBS: …three month float in the Med, not six months in the war zone. FOLEY: Wouldn’t make any difference to me. GIBBS: Actually, it was more like four and a half months for you. R-P-G broke your leg. FOLEY: I was lucky. It killed Petty Officer Gomez. GIBBS: When you came home, did you come home on crutches or a walking cast? FOLEY: What does any of this have to do with Petty Officer Curtin. GIBBS: It doesn’t. It has to do with his wife and who really murdered her and the cable repairman.

FOLEY: You think I killed them? GIBBS: Did you?

CUT TO:

INT. NCIS LAB – NIGHT

ABBY: What’s taking you so long? MCGEE: It’s not like I can just Google a Navy SEAL Commander and access confidential medical records.

CUT TO:

INT. OBSERVATION ROOM – NIGHT

FOLEY: You think I framed a teammate? A guy who would put his life on the line to save mine? GIBBS: Maybe you didn’t mean to. If Curtin hadn’t come home exactly when he did, who knows what direction this case might have gone in. FOLEY: Jack Curtin is one of the most insanely jealous men I’ve ever met. GIBBS: That’s not what you said at his trial. FOLEY: I didn’t want to see him get executed. (KNOCK ON DOOR) (DOOR OPENS) MCGEE: Sorry. Uh… could I see you a second, Boss?

CUT TO:

INT. OUTER OBSERVATION ROOM

TONY: Oh, I can’t believe I’m seeing what I’m seeing.

CUT TO:

INT. CORRIDOR – NIGHT

(DOOR CLOSES) GIBBS: Never interrupt an interrogation, McGee. Never! MCGEE: I’m sorry. I… I…I just… I just thought… GIBBS: To have a thought, McGee, you think! Were you thinking when you went into the interrogation room?! MCGEE: Yes, Sir. I think so. GIBBS: Well, okay. What is so damn important?

CUT TO:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM – NIGHT

(DOOR OPENS/ CLOSES) GIBBS: Margaret Curtin wasn’t murdered by her jealous husband. She was murdered by her jealous lover… the same one that gave her herpes. FOLEY: I’m not answering another question until I talk to a lawyer. I want a lawyer now!

CUT TO:

INT. NCIS SQUAD ROOM – NIGHT

MCGEE: I hate to rain on your parade, but we still don’t have Curtin. KATE: At least he won’t be able to kill Commander Foley. MCGEE: Well, if we go public that we’ve found his wife’s killer, there’s a good chance Curtin will turn himself in if he’s still alive.

CUT TO:

INT. TRUCK – NIGHT

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CURTIN APPLIES CREAM TO HIS SHOULDER)

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM – NIGHT

TONY: It doesn’t make any sense. KATE: What? TONY: Nothing. It just…it doesn’t make any sense. GIBBS: Are you going to give it up, DiNozzo, or are you just going to keep repeating yourself? TONY: The calls from Curtin’s wife to the Foley house pretty much stopped after Foley got back from Afghanistan. GIBBS: Yeah, so? TONY: So if they were having an affair, wouldn’t the calls increase after he got back into town? MCGEE: Well, they didn’t need to talk on the phone. They could see each other in person. TONY: Why did she stop talking to his wife? KATE: Well maybe she couldn’t. Would you be able to talk to the spouse of someone you were having an affair with? I mean, would a normal person? TONY: But she didn’t completely stop. McGee, did Foley spend any time in the hospital after he got back? MCGEE: Yeah. He had surgery on his leg and then again for a staph infection.

TONY: Right. The surgery was on November thirteenth, back in for the infection on the twenty first for… one, two, three – three days. MCGEE: Yeah, you’re right. How’d you know that? TONY: Because those are the only days Curtin’s wife made calls to Foley’s house after he got back. GIBBS: Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking? TONY: I don’t know, Boss. Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking? GIBBS: Yeah. Her lover wasn’t Foley.

CUT TO:

EXT. FOLEY HOUSE – NIGHT

GIBBS: (V.O.) It was his wife. (MUSIC OVER ACTION/CURTIN WATCHES THE HOUSE FROM HIS CAR) (DOOR OPENS)

CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT

(MRS. FOLEY WALKS TO THE BATHROOM) (SFX: SHOWER RUNS B.G.)

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT

(SFX: GLASS BREAKS B.G.) (DOOR OPENS)

CUT TO:

INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT

(MUSIC OVER ACTION/CURTIN WATCHES FROM THE DOORWAY) KATE: I think you have something of mine. (DOOR OPENS) TONY: Put your hands behind your head and interlock your fingers. GIBBS: Is this what you wanted your son to remember you for?

CUT TO:

INT. SQUAD ROOM – NIGHT

(SFX: DOORS SLIDE OPEN) TONY: I’m not sure I’d even mind. KATE: You wouldn’t mind if your wife had an affair? TONY: With another babe? I don’t think I would. KATE: Okay, I know I’m going to regret this, but why? TONY: Easy. With a guy I’d think… what’s he got that I don’t, but if it was a woman, I’d know. Plus there’s the whole… you know. KATE: What?

TONY: What do women… you know… KATE: Oh, please! Why are guys so interested in women who by definition, have no interest in them? TONY: There’s no such thing. KATE: There’s no such thing as lesbians? TONY: That’s not what I said. KATE: Oh. You just think all lesbians secretly still want a man? TONY: Not all of them. KATE: Just the good-looking ones? TONY: You’re putting words in my mouth. MCGEE: Welcome to the wonderful world of DiNozzo. KATE: So I guess you’re completely above such fantasies? MCGEE: Yeah. I am. TONY: Believe it. (DOOR OPENS) MCGEE: Who’s that? TONY: That’s a good question. Ask him. GIBBS: She dropped off my glasses. MCGEE: Boss? GIBBS: Yeah, McGee? MCGEE: It was really nice working with you again. GIBBS: Same here, McGee. MCGEE: Oh, by the way, there’s something that Tony and Kate have been meaning to ask you. (MCGEE WALKS O.S.)